Implementation plan 2022-24

• Deliver a more customer-focused water licencing and approval system.

– Initial improvements will deliver faster water advice into Planning determinations, with piloted improvements to be tested with targeted stakeholders.

– Improvements to Water Management Act licensing processes (including Water Supply Works and Use approvals, and Water Access Licences) including processes for timely notification of conditions, for targeted stakeholder testing.

• Develop and implement an Engagement Continuous Improvement Action Plan, that considers:

– governance of engagement processes

– culturally appropriate and place-focused engagement to enhance two-way dialogue with stakeholders

– accessibility of engagement and communications

– expansion and targeting of the monthly Water Engagement Roundup webinar, a ‘Water 101’ fact sheet series to explain water management fundamentals, and monthly departmental eNewsletter to ensure people can see what’s new or changing.

• Measure and report on customer/community confidence and trust to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of engagement and communication over time.

• Coordinate customer engagement about current and proposed water management and service delivery activities of the department, NRAR and WaterNSW to inform the 2024 pricing submission to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART).

• Publicly report on progress of all commitments made in response to recommendations from inquiries, reviews and audits.

• Continuous improvement of the department’s Water website, the Water Insights portal and Water Information dashboards as the department’s primary tool for communication and access to water-related information for customers, the community and compliance authorities.

• Expand the hydrometric network and install 20 new or improved gauging stations to improve network coverage/increase understanding of the flows in the system.

• Develop a new water balance tool to provide greater transparency about where water is in the environment.

• Implement the department’s Water Open Data Framework.

– Commence a program of publication of existing data on the Sharing and Enabling Environmental Data (SEED) website.

• Publish official water sharing plan maps in a more user-friendly format.

• Improve the quality and accessibility of groundwater data.

• Develop ‘Best practice guidelines for water modelling and data use’ incorporating stakeholder feedback that will ensure that all models are fit for purpose, and that modelling is of the highest quality.

• Undertake a pilot project to make publicly available climate data, catchment models, and pre-development flow models for selected catchments in NSW.

• Use the findings of the pilot to progressively make available climate data, catchment models, pre-development flow models for select catchments through the Open Data Framework.

• Work with the Australian Government and other jurisdictions to deliver the Integrated River Modelling Uplift program.

• Release the NRAR annual regulatory priorities for the 2022–23 water year, which will commit to a continued focus on supporting the metering reforms and ensuring compliance in the irrigated agriculture sector.

• Release the NRAR annual progress report that outlines compliance and enforcement work undertaken to deliver on the annual regulatory priorities for 2021–22.

• Publish all compliance outcomes on the NRAR website and prepare an interactive quarterly compliance report for ease of access by stakeholders and the public.

• Undertake a range of education and advisory programs across the state including on-farm and at field days, attending advisory group meetings and other stakeholder gatherings to clarify license obligations and assist water users to comply.

• Pioneer the use of innovative compliance techniques using spatial imagery, aerial photography, drones and bathymetric depth sounders – all of which improve the ability to collect compliance data and its evidentiary quality.

• Finalise and commence the floodplain harvesting licensing framework for the Border Rivers, Gwydir, Namoi, Macquarie and Barwon–Darling floodplain areas.

• Undertake compliance and enforcement activity with respect to floodplain harvesting licences and approvals in accordance with NRAR’s published regulatory priorities and compliance reporting commitments.

• Conduct a case study on domestic and stock basic landholder rights to collect evidence, quantify risks and scope potential solutions for any significant issues identified through targeted engagement.

• Publish a discussion paper about domestic and stock basic landholder rights management and water usage and consult with the community to confirm key issues.

• Increase awareness of the telemetry rebate program through a range of communications that meet the needs of water users.

• Engage with water users and key stakeholders to support the rollout of floodplain harvesting metering and measurement implementation.

• Increase guidance for water users on information required to substantiate an exemption and promote exemptions that already apply.

• Accelerate multiple solutions for sensor telemetry and data collection.

• Pursue opportunities to increase the number of certified installers of metering and measurement equipment.

• Continue to engage with water users to equip them with the information they need to comply with the non-urban water metering rules.

• Undertake compliance and enforcement activities to support continued rollout and implementation of the non-urban metering regime in accordance with NRAR’s published regulatory priorities and compliance reporting commitments.

• Continue to develop an engagement framework that describes when and how we engage with First Nations/Aboriginal People and peak organisations in an inclusive and culturally appropriate way, with continued consultation with peak bodies and Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations.

• Establish and support appropriate engagement and consultation forums and relationships, such as partnerships and committees, to strengthen the role of First Nations/Aboriginal People in water management.

• Contribute to national processes to confirm the inland waters target under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.

• Undertake activities to progress outcomes under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, in consultation with First Nations/Aboriginal People.

• Develop and implement a pilot to test methodology for cultural flows.

• Continue work as part of the whole-of-government negotiating team for native title determinations and Indigenous Land Use Agreements and address native title issues in water sharing plans as they are amended or remade.

• Deliver native title training to staff undertaking water management functions to ensure compliance with statutory obligations and support the intended beneficial outcomes of the native title regime.

• Review existing policy and regulatory frameworks to identify opportunities for greater Aboriginal access and ownership of water.

• Provide information to make it easier to navigate the licensing framework to access and use water for cultural purposes.

• Identify existing and/or design new materials and mechanisms to support negotiating use of, and access to, culturally significant sites.

• Embed cultural competency training and programs for new and current staff in the NSW water sector.

• Launch the Aboriginal water homepage on the department’s Water webpage.

• Provide information to make it easier to navigate the licensing framework to access and use water for cultural purposes.

• Develop methodology and mechanisms with First Nations/Aboriginal People to address their aspirations, values, and knowledge for environmental water management.

• Partner with land and water managers to roll out the Local Land Services Aboriginal Ranger Program to increase the inclusion of traditional land management practices in on-ground projects and programs across the state and provide employment and training opportunities.

• Develop and implement a new framework for Aboriginal cultural heritage assessments for all water infrastructure projects in NSW.

• Facilitate consultation with First Nations/Aboriginal People on all Water Infrastructure NSW projects through a dedicated First Nations engagement team to allow First Nations’ wisdom and experience to be considered and incorporated into project decisions.

• Provide advice on the application of Long Term Water Plans (environmental objectives, targets and watering requirements) to environmental water advisory groups, major projects and programs, review of water sharing plans and development of regional water strategies.

• Explore options with First Nations/Aboriginal People as to how they want to be represented on environmental water advisory groups (EWAGs) and how they want their annual environmental water planning and priorities included in EWAG processes.

• Provide training and support to EWAG members to further develop their cultural competence and capacity.

• Scope and commence technical work to improve understanding of the impacts of climate change on the management of water for the environment.

• Develop a case study in one NSW catchment focusing on incorporating climate change predictions into hydrological models for environmental water and test different delivery strategies.

• Develop methodology and mechanisms with First Nations/Aboriginal People to address their aspirations, values, and knowledge into LTWPs and annual planning.

• Finalise the regional water strategies to identify priority areas for targeted catchment management initiatives.

• Secure funding to implement these initiatives through a multifaceted approach.

• Transition floodplain management plans in the southern Murray–Darling Basin to the Water Management Act to provide a framework for coordinating flood work development, improve the environmental health of floodplains and manage the risks to life and property from flooding events.

• Continue to improve fish passage at priority sites as guided by the NSW Fish Passage Strategy, including pursuit of funding pathways.

• Review and update the Cold Water Pollution Strategy and guidelines for management that aims to reduce the impact that releases from major dams can have on downstream environments.

• Commence planning, examine funding pathways and implement cold water pollution related works at priority sites.

• Finalise the NSW Diversion Screening Strategy that aims to sustain native fish populations and protect vital irrigation infrastructure.

• Commence implementation of fish friendly diversion works at priority sites in the Northern Basin.

• Consider integrated approaches to monitoring, evaluation and reporting (MER) to identify common indicators and data sources and timing of evaluations to inform future approaches to MER delivery.

• Implement MER frameworks for all water strategies to inform an adaptive management approach.

• Finalise a Water Sharing Plan Evaluation Program, including developing and testing methods for social, environmental and economic impact evaluation.

• Continue monitoring and reporting on environmental water delivery and management to inform adaptive management and upcoming Long Term Water Plan reviews and meet reporting requirements under the Basin Plan.

• Expand the environmental water MER program into a further 4 NSW Basin valleys.

• Revise and publish an updated River Condition Index to provide a long-term reporting tool for assessing change in riverine condition.

• Prepare a water quality roadmap of roles and responsibilities for water quality management and monitoring across NSW, and consider options to address gaps, remove duplication or uncertainty and improve water quality governance arrangements.

• Publish a water quality incident management plan for hypoxic events.

• Establish and support a governance framework to ensure the clear, coordinated and effective management of diffuse source water pollution across NSW.

• Continue to support the preparation and implementation of Coastal Management Programs (CMPs) by councils to achieve the objectives of the Coastal Management Act 2016 that may include actions to maintain and improve water quality and estuary health, supported by monitoring and evaluation.

• Consult on the review of the NSW Water Quality Objectives in coastal catchments to ensure they reflect contemporary community environmental values and uses.

• Deliver a capacity building program to provide training on how to use the water quality objectives in environmental and land use planning, via a risk-based framework.

• Develop an integrated website of water quality objectives for catchments across NSW.

• Integrate updated NSW Water Quality Objectives with the NSW Common Planning Assumptions.

• Consult on the draft NSW Groundwater Strategy, setting the strategic priorities for long-term groundwater resource management in NSW to support the state’s economy, communities and the environment.

• Develop a final NSW Groundwater Strategy and implementation plan.

• Commence implementation of the NSW Groundwater Strategy.

• Finalise the Western Regional Water Strategy and identify priority connectivity actions.

• Finalise critical dry triggers for temporary water restrictions that aim to reduce the risk of critical water shortages to water-dependent environments and failure of surface water supply to communities.

• Remake the Barwon–Darling water sharing plan.

• Continue to implement the recommendations of the Independent Panel Assessment of the Management of the 2020 Northern Basin First Flush Event, as outlined in the NSW Government response and provide an update report on implementation annually.

• Commence development of a set of methodologies to progressively incorporate climate risk data into water sharing plan and water management decision-making.

• Use the findings of the pilot for delivery of climate risk data (see Action 1.3) to inform the wider roll-out of a data delivery platform for local water utilities for strategic service and drought management planning.

• Continue to update climate modelling for Greater Sydney and the Lower Hunter and consider outcomes for future supply and demand projections and future planning.

• Commence a desktop pilot – informed by the regional water strategies – in a specific valley to test scenarios for water availability and allocations in that area based on predicted climate risk modelling scenarios.

• Develop and consult on a discussion paper that identifies options for incorporating climate risk information into water allocation decision making, informed by findings of the desktop pilot.

• Expand application of the pilot to other valleys and engage with key water users in pilot valleys to discuss options, outputs and findings.

• Update the Extreme Events Policy to reflect lessons learnt from the recent drought.

• Continue to implement the actions in the Future Ready Regions Strategy in a flexible and responsive way to support an adaptive management approach to implementation.

• Develop Regional Drought Resilience Plans and Regulated River Drought Management Plans to support communities and industries plan for future droughts.

• Consider the findings of a comprehensive evaluation into the 2018-2020 Emergency Drought Relief Package to inform sustainable long-term investment approaches to designing future drought support measures and initiatives.

• Commence broader engagement on potential approaches to harmonised water restrictions for urban water supplies to inform our next steps.

• Develop Drought Response Plans for the Lower Hunter and Greater Sydney to guide drought response for metropolitan water supplies with a focus on cross-agency collaboration.

• Make improvements to governance, regulatory and advisory functions to enable better outcomes for water management through strategic land use planning and development assessment pathways.

• Develop and implement integrated water cycle management pilots in Western Sydney.

• Review the Building Sustainability Index (BASIX) to understand the effectiveness and appropriateness in delivering water efficiency outcomes and inform the development of new policy settings.

• Embed water security analysis into Regional Plans.

• Identify opportunities for land use planning frameworks to respond to water management and resilience outcomes in light of climate risk assessments.

• Through the Groundwater Strategy Implementation Plan, establish criteria to identify critical groundwater resources and develop spatial products and data to allow for identification and mapping.

• Support the implementation of the Risk-based framework for considering waterway health outcomes in strategic land use planning decisions.

• Proactively provide information on water availability, security and risk to inform major government land use and investment decisions.

• Finalise Master Plans for all Special Activation Precincts and give effect to these through State Environmental Planning Policy Regions and Precincts.

• Continue to work with local councils to implement the Regional Job Precinct Program that promotes economic growth and employment in key regional precincts in NSW. Commence community engagement on draft Master Plans to inform their review and completion.

• Invest in an expanded Farms of the Future program to accelerate the adoption of ‘ag-tech’ enabled production methods that make farms more efficient, profitable and resilient.

• Continue a range of funded R&D activities to measure and improve water productivity in irrigated agriculture.

• Continue building understanding of groundwater flow in the Great Artesian Basin to improve groundwater supply security for agriculture and primary industries.

• Invest in research development initiatives to investigate options to reduce evaporation from water storages.

• Work with Basin jurisdictions to implement agreed initiatives arising from the Murray–Darling Basin Water Market Reform Roadmap.

• Deliver over $600 million in water infrastructure programs and projects in 2022–23 across direct and indirectly delivered projects and grants programs.

• Develop implementation plans for all metropolitan and regional water strategies, supported by monitoring, evaluation and reporting frameworks.

• Finalise the Murray and Murrumbidgee regional water strategies including identifying options to provide evidence on possible causes of any underuse and for an opportunity to use water up to, but not exceeding the sustainable diversion limit.

• Release the final Greater Sydney Water Strategy.

• Implement the Greater Sydney Water Strategy and Lower Hunter Water Security Plan in accordance with their respective implementation plans.

• Develop monitoring, evaluation and reporting frameworks for the Greater Sydney Water Strategy and Lower Hunter Water Security Plan to support effective and efficient delivery, build understanding of progress, communicate achievement of outcomes and support adaptive management.

• Amend the Sydney Desalination Plant operating rules to optimise its contribution to water supply security.

• Progress planning approvals for a desalination plant at Belmont to provide a future rainfall independent water supply for the Lower Hunter.

• Support local water utilities in their delivery of water supply and sewerage services for healthy and resilient communities. Implement a new collaboration framework, endorsed by all regulators, to avoid duplication and inconsistency costs for utilities.

• Set policy, regulate and make regulatory decisions, provide oversight and assurance, monitor and report on performance.

• Support local water utilities manage and reduce risks.

• Complete Phase 1 of the Town Water Risk Reduction Program and its evaluation including:

– co-design with the local government sector a new regulatory and assurance framework to ensure regulation is modern, risk-based and outcomes focused

– co-create with the training, local government and water sectors a plan to address barriers for water operators

– through pilot initiatives, investigate opportunities to improve collaboration between local water utilities and evaluate their effectiveness

– through pilot initiatives, investigate and evaluate new approaches to support local water utilities by State-Owned Corporations (SOCs)

– analyse the financial needs and capacity of diverse local water utilities to meet their service obligations in their local circumstances, to inform future policies

– improve support for councillors as the governance and decisions-makers of local water utilities.

• Implement the new regulatory and assurance framework for local water utilities including:

– new strategic planning provisions for local water utilities through a staged approach

– structural changes to support the department’s advisory and regulatory roles for local water utilities

• Implement Phase 2 of the Town Water Risk Reduction Program and its evaluation including:

– 2 year Skills and Training Action Plan to address the water technical skill shortages of regional and remote councils

– investigate options for alternative funding arrangements of local water utilities

– continued support for councillors as the governance and decisions-makers of local water utilities

– continue programs to reduce risks through collaboration, sharing of information and leverage of the capabilities of WaterNSW.

• Deliver the Safe and Secure Water Program to support local water utilities reduce risks in urban water systems.

• Continue to support water utilities to assess water quality risks and implement Drinking Water Management Systems.

• Continue to provide guidance and support to private water suppliers and water carters on managing drinking water safety in their operations.

• Improve consistency of drinking water quality regulation and incident management for local water utilities.

• Continue to provide expert advice, training and support to water utilities on drinking water quality management.

• Finalise and publish the Water Efficiency Framework.

• Continue to deliver water efficiency projects and initiatives in metropolitan and regional areas.

• Continue the implementation of the Regional Leakage Reduction Program in collaboration with local water utilities to identify and reduce water losses.

• Provide information to local water utilities to improve understanding of the planning and lead in times required for alternate water sources to be considered.

• Develop a draft Recycled Water Roadmap for consultation, informed by targeted engagement with water utilities and other stakeholders.

• Consult on and finalise the Recycled Water Roadmap which will identify policy and regulatory options based on the feedback from consultation.

• Develop and release a draft discussion paper on stormwater for consultation. The discussion paper will be informed by case studies to consider options on a draft regulatory framework for stormwater harvesting.

• Develop and consult on a draft policy framework for stormwater harvesting, informed by feedback from consultation on the stormwater harvesting discussion paper.

• Implement the new regulatory framework for local water utilities that will improve the regulatory and advisory role of the department in assessing and approving new infrastructure works under section 60 of the Local Government Act 1993.

• Develop resources in collaboration with water utilities that will enable water utilities to progress community engagement about diverse sources of water.

• Commence the development of a policy framework for managed aquifer recharge (MAR) with a priority on MAR for town water supplies.

• Undertake desktop analysis of potential MAR sites to consider scientific and economic feasibility, guided by the regional water strategies.

• Develop a state-wide Integrated Water Cycle Management (IWCM) framework.

• Identify next steps and key priorities from Western Parklands City to support IWCM approaches.

• Implement the new regulatory framework for local water utilities that provides greater flexibility to align strategic planning for water and wastewater services with IWCM approaches.

• Develop long-term capital and operating plan for Greater Sydney to detail 20-year investment needs to meet growth, renewals, service standards, and water strategy outcomes adopting an integrated water cycle management approach.

• Transition all existing licences into new the framework established under the Water Industry Competition Act 2006.

• Develop guidelines to better enable competition and transparency for service providers.

• Commence consultation on fees and charges.

• Finalise amendments to the Water Industry Competition Regulation.

• Implement the NSW Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy.

• Commence development of circular economy plans for Sydney Water and Hunter Water.

• Trial forward/reverse osmosis technology in a local water utility pilot.

• Collaborate with Geoscience Australia on groundwater investigations along the Upper Darling Floodplain to identify potential for potable water for communities and industries.

• Develop automated remote sensing tools and new methods to support improved data transparency, water monitoring and modelling, and compliance activities.

• Engage in strategic research partnerships to develop and enhance scientific tools such as eDNA and develop key species' environmental water requirements.

• Develop and implement agreed sector capability building and regulatory training for local water utilities.

• Implement agreed government accredited and unaccredited training for water operators.

• Provide opportunities for training, employment and business development through the Water Infrastructure NSW projects and the Aboriginal Metering Traineeships Program.

• Implement and monitor the use of councillor awareness resources.